The NFL is set to return with Thursday’s season opener between reigning champions the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens, and were kicking things off with playoff, Super Bowl, and awards predictions.
AFC
We unanimously agree that the Chiefs are set up to win their ninth consecutive AFC West title and the Texans should wind up as back-to-back AFC South champions. The Bengals and Ravens dominate our AFC North picks, with each of us selecting both teams to make the playoffs one way or another. The East, however, is more volatile. Three of the division’s four teams get nods, led by five Bills picks. That competitiveness translates to our wild-card selections, with all but one voter putting at least two East clubs in the postseason.
NFC
The South is the only NFC division where our panel picked three different winners, but the Falcons ran away with the majority vote after an offseason of big acquisitions. The single Rams pick prevents a unanimous vote for the 49ers to run the West. Plenty of us still have L.A. making the postseason as a wild card. Things get a bit more interesting with the East and North divisions. Philly earned the bulk of votes for the former despite the Cowboys winning the division title in 2023. We’re nearly split when it comes to the Packers or Lions taking the NFC North crown, but all of us believe both teams will secure playoff berths.
AFC Championship Game
You won’t be a fan of most of our picks if you’re tired of seeing the Chiefs in the AFC championship. Eleven of 12 panelists picked Kansas City to make its seventh straight conference title game and six of them tabbed the Chiefs to move onto another Super Bowl. The Texans were another popular pick for the final conference showdown with seven votes. One voter was brave enough to predict the Chiefs’ streak of AFC title-game appearances would end and the Bengals would top the Jets.
NFC Championship Game
Eight panelists see the Packers making the NFC Championship Game and five predict Green Bay will win. The Lions and Eagles both earned five nods, though Detroit’s tabbed to win four times and Philadelphia only once. Unsurprisingly, a few voters picked the 49ers, who appeared in four of the last five NFC title games.
Super Bowl LIX
No team in NFL history has won three consecutive Super Bowls. Five of us predict the Chiefs will change that, coincidentally by beating NFC North teams in every scenario. The Packers are the only other team that got more than one championship-winning vote with two. The Bills and Lions each got a nod, which would represent the first time that either team lifts the Lombardi Trophy, plus Detroit’s first appearance in the title game. The Jets and 49ers received one vote each to win their first Super Bowls since the 1968 and 1994 seasons, respectively.
Team drafting No. 1 overall
Look away, Patriots fans. New England leads the way with nearly half the votes to pick No. 1 in the 2025 draft. It would mark the fifth time in franchise history that the club has drafted first overall (if the franchise keeps the selection). The Raiders and Giants got three and two votes, respectively. New York hasn’t picked at the top of the draft since the 1960s, while Raiders fans would like to forget Al Davis using the No. 1 selection on JaMarcus Russell in 2007. The Panthers drafted quarterback Bryce Young first overall in 2023 after trading what ultimately became the top pick in the 2024 draft to the Bears. The Saints’ lone first overall selection came in 1981, and the club took running back George Rogers.
1st head coach fired
Dennis Allen and Brian Daboll appear to be in a two-man race to get fired. Allen’s 9-8 mark with the Saints last season is the best he’s posted as a head coach, bringing his career record to 24-46. Daboll, meanwhile, is 15-18-1 in two seasons leading the Giants. Mike McCarthy and Robert Saleh are comparative dark horses, but the former is a bigger surprise after the Cowboys received multiple division-title votes. Saleh likely needs to get the Jets’ offense on track with Aaron Rodgers under center to keep his job.
Best and worst free-agent signings
There were no runaway picks for the best free-agent signing this year, but running backs were popular on both sides of the ledger. Our panel has been high on the Packers in many of these categories, and they’re the only team that saw two players earn votes for best signing in Xavier McKinney and Josh Jacobs. Kirk Cousins was the most popular pick for best signing with three votes. Robert Hunt showed up on the most ballots overall with four votes for worst signing. He’s a solid player, but consensus suggests the Panthers went overboard in giving him a five-year, $100-million deal.
Coach of the Year
Coach of the Year often goes to someone whose team improved the most from one season to the next, and our panel mostly expects this season’s winner to come from a team that performed poorly last year. Only DeMeco Ryans with the Texans (10-7) and Matt LaFleur with the Packers (9-8) posted winning records last season. Raheem Morris and the Falcons, who nearly swept our NFC South predictions, join Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers in receiving three votes each. Atlanta finished 7-10 last season under Arthur Smith while the Bolts went 5-12 under Brandon Staley.
Rookies of the Year
Caleb Williams is unsurprisingly our favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Barring nuclear production of their own, wide receivers Marvin Harrison Jr. and Malik Nabers likely need Williams and the other first-round quarterbacks to struggle in order to win. Bo Nix is the most surprising pick, though the same voter has Sean Payton winning Coach of the Year. There’s more variety on the other side of the ball. Laiatu Latu, the first defensive player picked in the draft, leads the way with three selections for Defensive Rookie of the Year, while Jared Verse, Terrion Arnold, and Byron Murphy II each got two.
Players of the Year
Speed kills, and it also helped Tyreek Hill lock up five Offensive Player of the Year votes. Fellow receivers CeeDee Lamb and Amon-Ra St. Brown each received one vote. Our panel picked several running backs, including Bijan Robinson twice, but no quarterbacks. Meanwhile, pass-rushers dominated Defensive Player of the Year, with Kyle Hamilton the only defensive back to receive a vote. We did give passers some love for Comeback Player of the Year, where Nick Chubb was the lone non-quarterback. With five votes, Aaron Rodgers leads a group of four signal-callers who are returning from season-ending injuries.
MVP
Since 2018, only three players have won MVP: Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Aaron Rodgers have each taken home the honor twice. Half the panel expects that group to stay at three, and six picked Mahomes. The panel unanimously agrees a quarterback will win the award, though. Our voters tabbed relative youngsters Jordan Love and C.J. Stroud to compete with perennial hopefuls like Mahomes, Josh Allen, and Joe Burrow for the league’s top accolade.
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